us history 1877 - 2008

  • Period: to

    early american history

  • declaration of independence signed

  • constitution is written

  • bill of rights ratified

  • Period: to

    civil war/reconstruction

  • homestead act

    provided 160 acres to anyone willing to settle on land in the west
  • 13th amendment

    abolished slavery
  • 14th amendment

    citizenship and due process
  • transcontinental railroad completed

  • 15th amendment

    voting for all male citizens
  • telephone invented by alexander graham bell

  • Period: to

    the gilded age

    rockefeller/carnegie: rockefeller was an american industrialist and philanthropist, oil industry. carnegie believed he should use his money to improve conditions, railroad and steel industry.
    philanthropy: promote welfare of others, use money for good
    monopoly: exclusive possession or control of supply or trade
    jane addams: a leader of the settlement house movement, poor and social reformist
    laissez-faire: a hands off approach to the economy
  • chinese exclusion act

    prohibited immigration of skilled or unskilled chinese laborers, first us national immigration system
  • pendleton civil service act

    awarded government jobs based on merit
  • interstate commerce act

    ensure railroad set "reasonable and just" rate and the first time government stepped in to regulate business
  • dawes act

    gave individual ownership of land to native americans instead of the tribe owning things collectively
  • hull house

    hull house founded, first of many settlement houses
  • sherman antitrust act

    outlawed business monopolies
  • sherman antitrust act

    outlawed trusts to promote economic fairness
  • Period: to

    the progressive era

    muckrakers: groupd of journalists and writers that brought many of society's ills to public attention
    initiative, referendum, recall: citizens can make votes on laws
    the great migration: widespread migration from south to north
    naacp: largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. a response to the ongoing violence against african americans around the country
    immigration issues (assimilation and nativism): worried immigrants will take jobs
  • plessy v ferguson

    legalized segregation, established "seperate but equal"
  • klondike gold rush (alaska)

  • uss maine explodes off the coast of cuba, starting the spanish american war

  • hawaii is annexed as a territory of the united states

  • Period: to

    imperialism

    theodore roosevelt: expanded the system of national parks and forests
    rough riders: first us volunteer cavalry under theodore roosevelt leadership
    foreign policy: the governments strategy in dealing with other nations
    immigration quotas: limiting the number of immigrants who can enter the us each year
    yellow journalism: journalism that is based upon sensationalism and crude exggeration
  • open door policy

    initiated free trade with china
  • panama canal built

  • roosevelt corollary

    an addition to the monroe doctrine
  • the jungle by upton sinclair is published

  • meat inspection act

    law that makes it illegal to adulterate or misbrand meat
  • naacp founded

  • dollar diplomacy

    taft’s policy of paying for peace in latin america
  • 16th amendment

    established the federal income tax
  • 17th amendment

    direct election of us senators
  • pure food and drug act

    established the federal reserve, which helped stabilize the banking industry
  • archduke franz ferdinand is assassinated, starting world war 1

  • Period: to

    world war 1

    alvin york: received medal of honor for leading an attack on a german machine gun nest
    homefront: people who stay in a country and work while the soldiers fight
    m.a.i.n. (causes of ww1): militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism
    sussex pledge: promise made by germany, armed ships can be torpedoed but not passenger ships
    american expeditionary forces: armed force organized to accomplish a specific objective in a foreign country
  • sinking of the lusitania

  • national parks system created

  • zimmerman telegram intercepted by the british, warned the us of a proposed ally between mexico and germany

  • the united states enters ww1 on the allied side

  • bolshevik revolution in russia begins, causing russian troops to exit the war

  • battle of argonne forest, considered the turning point of the war

  • germany surrenders to the allied powers

  • president woodrow wilson’s 14 points

    statement of principles for peace after world war 1, included no colonialism, freedom of the seas, and a league of nations
  • treaty of versailles

    peace treaty that ended world war 1, required germany to accept full blame and pay war reparations as well as demilitarize
  • 18th amendment

    prohibition is enacted and alcohol is illegal
  • 19th amendment

    women are given the right to vote
  • Period: to

    roaring twenties

    social darwinism: a set of ideologies. natural selection, survival of the fittest
    the red scare: the widespread fear of a rise in communism
    assembly line: workers and machines in a factory where items are progressively being assembled
    return to normalcy: president harding, getting back to a normal life after the war, return to the way it should be/was like before
    harlem renaissance: cultural revival of african american music, dance, art, literature, theater and politics centered in harlem, nyc
  • teapot dome scandal uncovered by the wall street journal

  • american indian citizenship act

    granted citizenship to any native americans born within the united states
  • scopes monkey trial

  • charles lindbergh makes history by making a nonstop solo flight from new york to paris

  • stock market crash

  • Period: to

    great depression

    hoovervilles: poor town built by unemployed people
    the new deal: programs, public work projects, financial reforms and regulations from fdr
    causes of the great depression: over production, over use of credit, over speculation, stock market crash, bank panic
    court packing: adding more seats to supreme court, fdr
    eleanor roosevelt:
  • dust bowl

  • franklin d roosevelt elected

  • civilian conservation corps (ccc) established

  • 20th amendment

    adjusted the dates of the presidential terms
  • 21st amendment

    repeals the 18th Amendment and prohibition ends
  • federal deposit insurance corporation (fdic) established

  • securities and exchange commission (sec) established

  • works progress administration (wpa) established

  • social security act

    established the social security administration, which provides unemployment insurance, aid to the disabled, old age pensions, and insurance for families
  • adolf hitler invades poland, starting world war 2

  • Period: to

    world war 2

    island hopping: took islands, establish military base
    liberation of concentration camps: allies saw camps, dismantled them
    dwight eisenhower: supreme commander of allied forces
    douglas macarthur: american general, led u.n. forces in korean war
    chester nimitz: commanded pacific fleet
    navajo code talkers: secret communication
    tuskegee airmen: african american military pilots
    flying tigers: american volunteer pilots
    the manhattan project: first nuclear weapons
    rosie the riveter: women in factories
  • attack on pearl harbor

  • battle of midway

  • bataan death march

  • executive order 9066

    incarceration of japanese americans for the duration of world war 2
  • "d day" - invasion of normandy

  • g.i. bill

    gives military veterans financial and educational benefits
  • united nations formed

  • Period: to

    early cold war

    containment: contain and stop the spread of communism
    arms race/space race: compete against the soviet union
    the union of soviet socialist republics: the soviet union,
    communism: a classless society where means of production are owned and controlled by the public
    domino theory: if one country falls to communism, the surrounding countries will also fall
  • the atomic bomb "little boy" is dropped on hiroshima, japan

  • the atomic bomb "fat man" is dropped on nagasaki, japan, ending world war 2

  • 22nd amendment

    prohibits anyone who has been elected president twice from being elected again
  • truman doctrine

    us policy that gave military and economic aid to countries threatened by communism
  • berlin airlift

  • marshall plan

    program to help european countries rebuild after world war 2
  • nato established

  • korean war

  • sweatt v painter

    ruled the separate law school at the university of texas failed to qualify as “separate but equal”
  • Period: to

    civil rights era

  • rosenbergs trials

  • first h-bomb detonated by the united states

  • brown v board of education of topeka

    overturned plessy v. ferguson and mandated desegregation
  • hernandez v texas

    mexican americans and all other races provided equal protection under the 14th amendment
  • Period: to

    vietman war

  • jonas salk invents the polio vaccine

  • montgomery bus boycott after rosa parks’ arrest

  • interstate highway act

    authorized the building of a national highway system
  • ussr launches sputnik

  • little rock nine integrated into an all white school in little rock, ak

  • bay of pigs invasion in cuba

  • berlin wall built to prevent people from leaving communist east berlin

  • cuban missile crisis

  • martin luther king’s “i have a dream speech” at the march on washington

  • john f kennedy is assassinated in dallas, tx

  • gulf of tonkin resolution

    begins undeclared war in vietnam
  • 24th amendment

    abolishes the poll tax
  • civil rights act of 1964

    made discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin in public places illegal and required employers to hire on an equal opportunity basis
  • medicare and medicaid established

  • voting rights act of 1965

    eliminated literacy tests for voters
  • tet offensive

  • martin luther king is assassinated

  • civil rights act of 1968

    prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of housing
  • tinker vs. des moines

    defined the first amendment rights for students in the united states public schools
  • first man on the moon

  • kent state university shooting

  • Period: to

    end of the cold war

  • pentagon papers leaked

  • 26th amendment

    moved the voting age 21 years old to 18 years old
  • title ix

    protects people from discrimination based on gender in education programs
  • war powers act

    law limited the presidents right to send troops to battle without congressional approval
  • watergate scandal, which leads to nixon’s resignation

  • fall of saigon, marks the end of vietman war

  • camp david accords

  • iran hostage crisis

  • three mile island disaster

  • iran contra affair

  • persian gulf war (operation desert storm)

  • Period: to

    1990s - 21st century

    barack obama: first african american president of the united states
    al qaeda: terrorist organization founded by osama bin laden, responsible for september 11
    no child left behind: provides money for extra educational assisstance for poor children
    president clinton’s impeachment: lying about his affair with monica lewinsky under oath
    presidential election of 2000: george bush v al gore, bush won. had to hold a recount. decision was up to the us supreme court
  • fall of the ussr - official end of the cold war

  • nafta created free trade between mexico, the united states, and canada

  • attack on world trade center and pentagon

  • usa patriot act

    tightened the national security, particularly as it was related to foreign terrorism
  • hurricane katrina